“We are a brand for the people, not for the snobbish people.” Guido Barilla, Chairman of Barilla [2], the world’s largest pasta company, said to a crowd of journalists gathered at Eataly, Manhattan's favorite  emporium of Italian food.

Barilla has indeed become one of the world’s most esteemed food companies and is recognized worldwide as a symbol of Italian know-how by respecting its long standing traditional principles and values. “Ours is an Italian family company that offers quality products which promote the well-being of the people and communities in the countries in which they are sold.”

Guido Barilla presented the biography of his father Pietro “Everything Is Done For The Future, [3]” edited by Francesco Alberoni, an Italian sociologist and friend of Pietro’s.

The book is is available online and in publisher Rizzoli’s bookshops in New York. “The title refers to the last message our father left us before leaving us. In order to continually move forward and look to the future, we first need to be aware of our history.”

In the year of Pietro Barilla [4]’s birth centenary, and the 20th anniversary of his death, Mr. Alberoni recounts the life, in a conversation format, of a versatile Italian entrepreneur, credited with having made a fundamental contribution to Italy’s international image thanks to his innovative vision and conviction that pasta is the “crown jewel” of Italian cuisine.

Joining the family company in 1947 while still a young man, Pietro Barilla managed to transform Barilla from just another small Italian pasta company into the world’s largest and best-known pasta brand. A trip to New York after the Second World War opened Pietro’s eyes to the importance of marketing and communication, inspiring stylish designs for the first pasta packaging in the 1950s and pioneering promotional campaigns featuring Italian singers, actors and film-maker Federico Fellini. “I knew I needed intellectuals, artists and cultured people in order to establish our name among the thousands of anonymous pasta companies,” Francesco Alberoni remembers Pietro Barilla as saying.
Guido Barilla also had something to say about this, “I never saw my father with businessmen, he was always surrounded by artists because he thought they could see things others could not, and through them he could see them too.”

The Barilla story began in 1877, when Pietro Barilla’s grandfather, who was also called Pietro, opened a small shop in downtown Parma which sold pasta and bread. Today, Barilla is the leader in the global pasta business and the No. 1 pasta brand in the U.S. The story of how Pietro Barilla propelled a family business based in a small town in Emilia Romagna, an Italian region famed for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma products, is not without setbacks – and the biggest blow he faced has an American twist.

In the early 70s, Italy underwent a period of deep economic trouble and social unrest, with the left-wing Red Brigades group spreading terror across the country.

The tumultuous times prompted Pietro’s brother Gianni to insist the company be sold to U.S. multinational firm Grace. “Grace didn’t understand pasta. They didn’t believe in it,” Pietro says.

From the day Barilla was sold, Pietro starts to plan on how he could bring the company back home to Italy. When he manages to do this in 1979, his focus turns to growing the company by bringing pasta to all of Italy, then to Europe and beyond. “Pasta has always held a special place in my heart. Pasta is the soul of Italian cooking.”

His sons Guido, Luca and Paolo Barilla are continuing where he left off. “My brothers and I had different interests,” Guido recalled, “One of us was a race car driver (Paolo), I was busy with my studies (he studied philosophy) and Luca was the only one immediately involved. Eventually we all came together and took over the family's business.”

Barilla is today among the top Italian food groups, a world leader in the pasta and pasta sauce businesses in  continental Europe, bakery products in Italy, and the crispbread business in Scandinavia.

Currently, the Group Barilla [2] owns 30 production facilities (14 in Italy and 16 abroad) and
exports to more than 100 countries. The U.S. adventure started in 1996; after only three years, Barilla became the #1 U.S. brand. Today, the company has a market share close to 30%.

Following the mantra “Everything Is Done For The Future,” we can say that the future holds Barilla's first restaurant in Manhattan that will open its doors in November 2013. Located in midtown, the restaurant “will be the perfect place for us to have direct contact with the consumer,” Guido Barilla explained, “we are open to any form of dialogue, we want to hear their opinion and develop new projects.”

2014 foresees the launch of  gluten-free pasta. The gluten-free industry is expected to reach $8 billion in 2013 as more people begin to adopt a gluten-free lifestyle. Pasta is one of the foods that is missed most amongst people who are living gluten-free, and yet the options for enjoying a gluten-free pasta meal fall short, with limited brands and varieties available on store shelves.

Wait no more. ““We felt it was important to invest in developing a pasta line for the ever-increasing number of people who are adopting gluten-free lifestyles, ensuring that it delivers the taste and texture pasta lovers expect from Barilla,” says Giannella Alvarez, president of Barilla Americas Group.

 Find more info: www.barillagroup.com/‎ [5]